The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friends Lord Lamont and Lady Finn in supporting this Motion. I am delighted and honoured to stand here again as Leader at the start of this new Parliament. Your Lordships’ House plays a critical role in making and shaping the laws of our United Kingdom. Scrutinising the legislation of the Government of the day is a great responsibility and one that the whole country benefits from, so your Lordships’ experience and expertise will once again be vital in helping to ensure that this Government’s legislation is the most effective it can be.
I know that, over the past six weeks, many noble Lords on all sides of the House have been campaigning up and down the country. Thousands of miles have been walked, millions of people spoken to, bad weather has been braved and shoe leather has been worn down. We have seen change. We now have 140 new MPs in the other place, our most diverse Parliament yet. Britain has elected more women than ever before, a record number of ethnic minority MPs and 45 openly LGBT Members. On a personal note, I would like to congratulate one new Member in particular: my husband James, who has been elected as the Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk.
As well as a new look House of Commons, the results of the election mean a new chapter for our country, and while much has changed in the other place, I am delighted to be joined once more by the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, and the noble Lord, Lord, Lord Newby, with whom I worked throughout the last Parliament. I have mentioned on other occasions the many late nights and the challenging debates that we have had over the past three years, but once again I would like to thank them for the productive and respectful way in which we have always worked, and I am confident that we will continue to do so during the course of this Parliament.
It is a pleasure to add my congratulations to those already expressed to my noble friends Lord Lamont and Lady Finn for moving and seconding the Motion for an humble Address. My noble friend Lord Lamont has never been afraid of standing his ground and speaking truth to power. In the 1980s, our then Prime Minister, the late Baroness Thatcher, had been convinced by an American film producer to subsidise the construction of some film studios in Essex. It fell to the noble Lord, then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to counsel against this as representing poor value for money. “That is the problem with you, Norman,” she said. “It is always ‘no, no, no.’ If you had been in my Government from the start, we would never have got anything done.” “I am sorry to contradict you, Prime Minister,” came the reply, “but I have been in your Government from the start.”
My noble friend Lady Finn’s first political experience was canvassing for the late Baroness Thatcher as a teenager in the grittier parts of her native Swansea. Getting punched did not put her off; rather, it helped to develop the no-nonsense style which has served her so well during her period in Government and now in this House. When the Chief Whip called my noble friend to ask if she was free to do this speech, she tried to tell him that she would be busy washing her hair—but he was suspicious, as it is a well-known fact that if you want to track down my noble friend, you should head to the House of Commons hairdresser, where she gets the best gossip but also, of course, gets through a prodigious amount of paperwork.
I too put on record my thanks for the hard work of the House authorities and all staff across the House in making today’s ceremony such a success. This year has required a great deal from House staff—as indeed it has from your Lordships—but they have always worked with the utmost professionalism and good spirits. I know that all noble Lords join me in thanking them all for everything they do.
Finally, I thank our emergency services for their brave and tireless work. As the Lord Speaker said, last month our country suffered a terrorist attack, which resulted in the tragic deaths of Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones. I know the House will want to express our sympathies to their families and friends and pay tribute to the emergency services, alongside the brave members of the public who were there to defend our freedom and way of life.
The legislative programme laid out in the Queen’s Speech represents an ambitious agenda under the renewed leadership of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister. This Government are committed to delivering a deal with the European Union that works for the whole of the United Kingdom. Tomorrow, the House of Commons will have the Second Reading of the withdrawal agreement Bill that will enable the implementation of the Prime Minister’s deal, ensuring that Britain leaves the EU on 31 January. Once we have left, we will seek a future relationship with our European friends based on a free trade agreement and begin trade negotiations with leading economies across the globe.
Responding to the public’s priorities, we will also deliver a bold programme of domestic reform. At the heart of our programme is enshrining our NHS funding settlement in law while growing and supporting its fantastic workforce, helped by a new visa to fast-track doctors and health workers. We will seek a cross-party consensus on social care, as already mentioned, abolish car parking fees for those most in need and reform the Mental Health Act.
Once we have left the EU, we will introduce a fair, points-based immigration system that will encourage skilled workers to our great country.
This Government will continue to cut the cost of living by raising the national insurance threshold and increasing the national living wage, encourage flexible working and extend the entitlement to leave for unpaid carers. To spread opportunity, we will increase per-pupil funding for every school to ensure that each child gets the world-class education they deserve.
We also intend to spread prosperity across every part of our United Kingdom by investing in public services, research, skills, infrastructure and broadband, led by the priorities of local communities.
We will bring forward changes to business rates, introduce a new national skills fund and increase tax credits for research and development. We will also improve the dependability of the transport network and introduce measures to provide minimum service levels during strikes.
To support tenants and home owners alike, there will be new measures to improve building safety—critically important—and encourage home ownership.
To keep people safe, our programme includes measures for a fair and more efficient justice system that will deliver tougher and swifter sentencing for the most serious and violent crimes.
Tackling climate change will be a priority for this Government. COP 26 is being hosted here next year. We will ban the export of polluting plastic waste, take steps to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and enshrine our environmental targets in law—an issue that I know your Lordships’ House will be particularly interested in.
A constitution, democracy and rights commission will be established and, as already mentioned, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act will be repealed.
Defence of the realm is the first duty of government, so we will invest in our Armed Forces, who work around the clock to keep us safe. We will honour the NATO commitment to spend 2% of national income on defence, tackle hostile activity conducted by foreign states and look after those who have served our country so valiantly.
As Britain steps on to the global stage as a sovereign nation once more, we will work hard to expand our influence in the world. Our Government will focus on everything from diplomacy to development to defence, while promoting our interests and values abroad.
Together, these measures will level up our United Kingdom, from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Cornwall, from North West Norfolk to Northern Ireland, from North West Durham to the Cities of London and Westminster, and to Wrexham. This is a one-nation Conservative Government who will repay the trust put in them by the electorate. We intended to unleash Britain’s potential and to extend opportunity across our four great nations.
I finish by wishing all noble Lords and staff of the House a very merry Christmas and every best wish for the new year. I look forward to seeing you all on the noble Baroness’s birthday, when no doubt we shall cheer her, but on that note, I support the Motion.